Village people in plea for helping hands at new hall

loo was a hut with a pit in the woodland outside! Lighting was provided by oil lamps hung from the ceiling. A row of black Valor paraffin oil stoves down the centre of the hall provided the heating –with the addition of a wood burning stove on the stage area. By 2013 the building was cold, damp and dark and surveyors all but condemned it. A small band of villagers set to work and after two years of hard work, car boot sales, cake stalls, fundraising events, grant applications, endless meetings and planning, the new hall opened in 2015.

Villager Jim Jones said: “If you want a better world you have to make one.

“The new hall was built because a few people cared.

training, endless private parties, wakes, reunions, carer’s days, seminars, conferences, keep fit, yoga and meditation. The existing hall was donated by the army shortly after the First World War.

It was originally two army huts that were transported to the site from Bovington by horse and cart and joined together to form the hall. At first it didn’t have electricity or a water supply. One resident recalls that her uncle was tasked with bringing a churn of water down on a cart, before any event in the hall. There were no inside toilet facilities – the

“If you care about the world, if you could do something to improve people’s lives, Join village hall trustees, join in with youth work, join a charity, join in your local community group and make a difference. Please give the children a sense of community.” n Anyone interested in supporting the village hall’s work should email moretonvillagehall bookings@gmail.com